Randy Disher
Disher is Captain Leland Stottlemeyer's second-in-command and employed at the San Francisco police force. He is characterized as a naïve, loyal, overly ambitious but not necessarily bright assistant to Stottlemeyer. His far-fetched theories and comments about the cases Monk works on are a running gag of the series. Apart from his truly ridiculous theories, which often involve defying the very laws of physics, Disher appears rather competent within his own range of abilities. He has proven himself to be trustworthy, courageous, and capable of providing valuable insights into the cases they tackle. Also a running gag is the awkwardly ceremonial way in which he delivers news to Stottlemeyer, asking him to guess what it is or sit down for it. It should be noted that his personality was dramatically changed from the pilot episode of the series. In the pilot, he was not only skeptical of Monk, but he seemed to find Monk a joke. One could assume that he was jealous of Monk, by his actions toward Monk himself and to the captain about him. However, he was still bumbling, as he gave Monk his gun during a frantic scene. Relationships Like Stottlemeyer, Disher used to be wary of Monk's abilities, but as the series progressed, he came to admire and respect them. During the series, Disher lost his entire life savings during a trip to Las Vegas (which prompted Monk and Stottlemeyer to come to his rescue, using Monk's abilities to win the money back), acted once as Natalie Teeger's bodyguard, and helped Monk find clues for the Trudy Monk case by traveling to New York with him. Randy used to argue regularly with (but was secretly attracted to) Monk's first assistant, Sharona Fleming, and maintains a friendly, professional behavior towards Monk's second assistant, Natalie Teeger. He seems to always harbor crushes on Monk's assistants, writing a personal ad fitting his first assistant Sharona Fleming, and when told by his second assistant Natalie Teeger that she had news he guessed that she was wanting to say she loved him, leaving her in a dumbstruck state while Monk delivered the actual news. His lack of luck getting dates is so notorious that when he does get a girlfriend, nobody believes him. In Mr. Monk and the Employee of the Month he shows the cast a generic picture of a woman. Sharona confirms that it was included with his wallet. They dismiss his claims that his girlfriend is a wallet model named Crystal Smith. It is revealed to the viewers (but not to the cast) that Randy was telling the truth. Background Disher was born in San Diego. He attended Temple University and lived in Philadelphia briefly, where he was a sergeant in that city's police. It was revealed in the episode "Mr. Monk and the Leper" that as a teenager he suffered from an extreme case of acne. He joined the police force nine years before the sixth season. The Randy Disher Project In high school, he was part of a rock band, the Randy Disher Project, which he resurrected with his fellow bandmates in the episode "Mr. Monk Goes to the Dentist". The band created a music video entitled "Don't Need a Badge", trying to justify Randy's leaving the police force. The band broke up and Disher returned to the SFPD shortly afterwards. The song was reprised in the February 23, 2007, episode, Mr. Monk and the Really, Really Dead Guy. Disher was placed as a decoy to try to attract the attention of the perpetrator, playing the erstwhile rock song (while forgetting most of the lyrics) with the instruments of a one-man band. Further, in Mr. Monk and the Rapper, Randy climbs the stage in a rap club, shouting: "If you enjoyed that, check out therandydisherproject.com!". Trivia *In the pilot episode, Lieutenant Disher is called Lieutenant Deacon. The character in the pilot episode envies Monk and is more serious than Lieutenant Disher. *Disher is usually seen driving a 2003 tan Ford Crown Victoria with a Mars light attached to the inside rearview mirror, but he has mentioned owning a Ford Festiva. *Disher is allergic to cats. *When the first two letters of Disher's first and last name (Disher's original last name being Deacon), are paired with the first two letters of Leland Stottlemeyer's first and last names, the result is Lestrade. Lestrade was the police contact in many of Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes stories. *Disher is left-handed References Category:Monk characters Category:Police officers